by Roni Adams
“If there is a baby, I won’t be an ass about it, we’ll work it out. I won’t stand in the way of your...plans.”
Her plans? What did that mean? Her plans for the pregnancy? Her plans for the ranch? What plans?
She didn’t ask, just kept on going and didn’t stop until she was outside and the cool morning air washed over her. Behind the house, out of sight, she leaned against the wood and bent from the waist. The tears she’d held in check flowed free, and huge sobs tore from her throat. For several minutes, Sara allowed herself the luxury of a good hard cry, then she straightened her back, drew a deep breath and walked away.
****
Buck listened to Sara’s footsteps pound down the steps, every clump of her boots like nails being hammered in his coffin. Did what happened in Houston mean so little to her? He’d practically begged her to come back to him, pleaded with her to not just want his friendship but his love and she’d spun on her heel and walked away. Was she really that cold? Did he ever really know her at all?
When he heard the door slam, he forced himself to leave his bedroom. As hard as it was, he pushed aside this ache in his heart and focused on his job. He’d talk to Sam, find out for sure if the dogs had all been killed and figure out exactly how many calves they lost. Walking down the hall, he passed Tyler’s room. He was almost at the top of the stairs when he turned back to stand in his youngest brother’s doorway. Something wasn’t right. Tyler was rarely home, choosing instead to spend time the past year farther and farther away from the family stead. He’d camp out on the farthest corners of the Double B, slept in line shacks and rode fence line for days on end. But he’d always left his room as if he was coming back any second. This room lacked the normal clutter. Buck’s eyebrow rose as he looked around for his brother’s laptop...only to realize it was gone.
His heartbeat increased as threads of panic crept up his spine. Buck strode into the room and flung open the closet door. Practically empty, or at least empty of the things that mattered to Tyler. All his boots were gone. Several hangers swung empty, and when Buck ripped dresser drawers open he knew the truth, his brother had left and it sure appeared for good this time.
Propped up against Beth’s picture on the nightstand, he noticed an envelope, two to be exact. One address to Cord, and one to Beth. Next to them lay his brother’s cell phone.
His heart pounded. Without another thought, he scooped them all up and headed out to find Cord.
****
Buck glanced up as Flo refilled his coffee cup. They’d all had enough coffee to float a boat, but telling her to stop wouldn’t do any good—back barely a day, it was her way of doing something productive amongst the chaos.
“I don’t get what the hell he thinks he’s solving by running away.” Teddy paced the kitchen walking around the housekeeper as she returned the pot to the burner.
“He didn’t run away. He wouldn’t do something like that. He’s just trying to figure out some things in his head,” Flo stated, setting a heaping platter of hash on the table. No one touched it. “He’ll be back.”
Cord crossed his arms over his chest. “Damn straight he’ll be back because I’m going to haul him back here by his scrawny neck. The little f—”
Flo swatted him on the head with an oven mitt. Buck stared at Cord as he shifted out of the way of another smack. He glared at his older brother. “That isn’t going to solve anything. You haul him back here and he’ll feel even more penned in. Hell, Cord, he’s what, twenty-two? Let him go. It’s not like he’s penniless.”
Sam rocked back on his chair. “Yep, he’s not a little kid Cord, no matter what you might think. He’s a grown man. It’s Beth we oughta be thinking about.”
Buck frowned. No one had opened the envelope marked Beth, but every one of them knew what was in it. Tyler had dropped a few hints that none of them picked up on until now about the engagement. A few weeks ago, Buck had asked him when he was going to move his things to the new house he’d built for him and Beth. Tyler never did answer. He hadn’t thought much about it, but now he came to the awful realization that his brother never intended to live there with her. Now, Buck figured he’d built that clinic and house as a goodbye gift, not a wedding gift as he’d once said. Maybe as time got closer to Beth’s homecoming—not to mention their wedding—he’d bolted.
“He was man enough to ask her to marry him, and man enough to be out on his own, but he isn’t man enough to break it off with her in person before he leaves? That’s not right.” Flo set another plate on the table even though no one touched the first.
Buck wasn’t worried about Tyler, not really. He’d taken his truck, which was practically brand new. And although his trust fund wouldn’t come through until he was twenty five, his bank account should be healthy enough for quite some time. Plus, if he wanted to work, he was a skilled horse trainer and could easily step onto any ranch anywhere to work.
“I’ll go to the bank on Monday and find out what activity has happened on his account.” Cord said.
Teddy finally took a seat at the table and stirred cream into his coffee. “What are we going to do about Beth?”
“We aren’t saying anything to Beth until she finishes her finals and gets home.” Cord looked as if he would argue with anyone who defied him.
Flo put her hands on her ample hips. “I’m not lying to that girl. If she calls his cell and it’s off, after a few times, she’ll call me looking for him.”
Teddy nodded. “She’s right. We need to get her sisters involved. How long before Beth gets home?”
Flo set a plate of banana bread on the table with butter. “I think she has two more weeks, maybe three at the most.”
Sam stood. “I’m going back to the barn. I got work to do.”
Buck watched the old man lumber out the back door without another word as Flo’s gaze followed her husband.
She met Buck’s eyes and nodded. “He’s always had a soft spot for that boy.”
Buck pushed back from the table. “Yeah, well, maybe this will all blow over. Who knows, he might get to the next town and turn around. Maybe Beth having finals is a good thing. A lot can change in two weeks.”
The back door opened and Sara and her sisters walked in. “What’s up?” she asked, glancing around the kitchen. “Who died?”
Buck watched her closely but she avoided his gaze. Her hands in her back pockets drew her T-shirt taut across her chest. He couldn’t help but glance at her breasts underlined beneath the faded grey material. He turned away as Diane moved across the room and slipped into the chair closet to Cord.
Her slender hands rested on the top of the old wooden kitchen table. “What’s happened?” she asked softly.
Cord cleared his throat. Buck turned his attention to his older brother not envying him having to explain this.
“This morning Buck found a note from Tyler.” He handed the slip of paper over to Diane.
Her jaw fell open as she read it. “Oh no.”
She looked up and met Cord’s eyes as Sara and Susan both scrambled to get the note from her. They read it together.
Buck turned his attention back to Sara, whose face was set in a hard line and turning beat red.
“That little son of a bitch,” she swore.
“Watch it,” he said softly. Even though he thought the same thing about Tyler, his hackles still rose at her calling him names.
Sara glared at him, but when she opened her mouth to say something back, Susan cut in. “I can’t believe he did this.” Susan took the note from her sister and read it again as if she couldn’t quite believe what she was reading.
Sara grimaced at Cord, then him. “Well go find him, what are you sitting here for?” she demanded.
Buck stood up. “Going to find him and drag him back here isn’t going to solve this. It isn’t going to make him marry Beth.”
Sara narrowed her eyes. “You got a better plan? I say you go get him, bring him back here so I can kick his ass. Then he can face my siste
r like a man and tell her why he’s breaking her heart.” She swung her head around to glare at Cord. “Who does that? Who leaves someone with a note?”
“I suppose it’s better than an email,” Susan said.
Flo ambled over to the table, filling coffee cups once more. “Everyone calm down. Sara, it’s not going to do any good to yell at the boys, they didn’t do this.”
Sara snorted. “Tyler’s their damn brother.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Buck stepped closer to her.
She shrugged. “Maybe it runs in the family with all of you.”
Buck tipped his head, not caring that everyone in the room had gone incredibly quiet and were listening intently to the interchange. “Meaning what?”
Sara crossed her arms over her chest. “Meaning that none of you mean what you say. You all say one thing and then, when it’s convenient, you change your tune.”
“Are you in some way implying that Tyler, and what’s happened with us, is connected?”
Sara’s face went red. Even though her gaze darted to the others listening, she swung her gaze back to him. In her eyes, he could see she wasn’t about to back down from the challenge in his remark..
“Yeah. Tyler loved Beth all these years, or so he said. Loved her so-o-o much he built her that clinic and house as a wedding present...and now he’s changed his mind and needs to find himself?”
Buck set his jaw, waiting for what he knew was coming. “And?”
She lifted her chin. “And...we were friends since the day we were born and suddenly you decide that you’d rather sleep with me—so a twenty-five year friendship gets shot to hell!”
Chapter Fourteen
Buck heard the collective gasp in the room but didn’t look anywhere else. He’d never seen her this mad. Not that he cared in his own fury. How dare she try to turn what Tyler did around and imply that he’d done something wrong.
“I decided to sleep with you? This was all your idea—you and your buddy Charli, remember? The big seduction scene. What were your words exactly? ‘We’re going to do this, Buck. We can do it the hard way or the easy way.’”
Teddy choked on whatever he was drinking and grunted as if someone had shoved their elbow in his side.
Fire flared in Sara’s emerald eyes. “You crossed the line weeks before and you know it. Don’t you dare stand here and pretend otherwise. No matter what happened in Houston, you started it. You went down that road, not me.”
“Yeah, I kissed you. My intentions were a hundred percent above board, up front, and honest. You can’t say the same though, can you? You slept with me because you wanted to...what was it Charli said? Oh yeah ‘scratch an itch with me’ before you married Cord!”
“Oh my God.” Diane’s voice came out as soft as a whisper but in the tense silence of the room it sounded as if she’d shouted.
Sara’s eyes widened, but again, true to form, she didn’t blink or back down.
“You’re just like Tyler. He left because he knew when Beth got home she was going to take over Doc’s practice and stay here. He’s known that for months...but suddenly it was getting too close. He got scared and ran.”
Buck frowned then glared. “What the hell does that have to do with what happened between you and me?”
Sara shifted her stance. “You’ve known all my life that the only thing I wanted was to run this ranch—I’ve worked for this forever.”
“I’m not trying to stop you from doing that.”
“Yes you are. You couldn’t leave well enough alone could you? You couldn’t let me marry Cord and live my life. No, you had to go and do what you did and now you’re furious because it’s more important to me to run this ranch than to sleep with you.”
He reared his head back as if she’d struck him.
Buck pulled himself up to his full height. “That’s good to know.” He turned and addressed his brothers. “When Beth gets home next month, it’s up to us to tell her about Ty.” He looked at Cord. His brother’s eyes revealed sympathy, but also anger. He’d deal with him later “You’ll understand if I can’t make the wedding.”
The door shook on its frame when he slammed through it.
Sara held her chin high as she faced her sisters and Buck’s brothers. All the siblings appeared shell shocked. Flo was unusually speechless, and as Sara’s gaze bounced off the older woman’s, she could feel her face flush. Cord had his arms crossed tightly over his chest and glared. She was ashamed of their outburst. This had been no way for Cord to find out. He didn’t deserve this.
“Can I talk to Cord alone please?” she requested.
Teddy pushed away from the counter. “I’m going to go find Sam, see how he’s doing.”
“I’ve got some phone calls to make,” Susan mumbled then headed out the back door.
Flo put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes.
Sara shook her head. “This is between me and Cord. Please.”
Diane, full of grace as always, stood up and slid her arm around the housekeeper’s shoulders. Without a word, she led the older woman down the hall. Sara knew she wasn’t off the hook; she’d be dealing with both her older sister and the woman who had practically raised her later. Alone in the kitchen with Cord, though, she really had no idea what to say.
Sara leaned back against the counter, hands resting on the edge behind her as she rocked back and tried to find her voice. “I-I’m sorry. I should have told you.”
Cord pushed his chair back. He stared at her and, for half a second, reminded her of her father. She squirmed under his gaze.
“Let’s focus on Beth and Tyler for now. We’ll talk about the other mess later. You okay?”
His concern confused her, and, after what he’d just found out, her heart squeezed. Cord really was quite a guy, a true gentleman—making her even more ashamed of the scene she and Buck had just indulged in. She couldn’t see Cord ever embarrassing himself that way.
She swallowed hard. “I’ll be fine.”
He picked up his hat. “I’m going to give Jackson a call about Tyler. Maybe we’ll all get lucky and he’ll come to his senses before Beth gets back home.”
He walked out, leaving her alone in the Weston family kitchen. Buck’s mother, Annie, had been dead over a decade and yet, even now, Sara half expected her to walk up from the basement carrying a jar of homemade preserves. She and Sara had always had a tight bond. Sometimes, it seemed, Annie was the only one who understood her. Tears sprang to her eyes. Annie wouldn’t have understood this. She would not have liked the fact that Sara was in the middle of her two oldest sons. If there was a consequence of the baby kind to what had happened between her and Buck in Houston, things would be even worse. All because of her. Because she never stopped to think before she jumped.
She lifted her hands to her face and drew a deep breath as the tears stung her eyes. The family had enough to deal with now with Tyler’s disappearance.
Hearing Diane and Flo talking as they came back towards the kitchen, she quickly slipped out the back door. For once, she knew she didn’t believe the solace of the barns or her horses would help. Instead, she climbed into her truck.
She drove through the arches and then kept on going, heading nowhere in particular. Her mind was a million ways away and she paid no attention to the truck at the side of the road until she was about a half mile down. Suddenly it registered who was stranded and she glanced in the rear view mirror. Cole.
With no other vehicle on the road, she twisted in her seat and drove in reverse back to where he waited on the side of the road.
Steam poured from the popped up hood of Cole’s pickup. He wiped his hands off on a rag and rested them on the roof of her truck. “Radiator,” he said, through her open window.
She nodded.
“Where you off to?” he asked, squinting in the hot sun.
Sara turned to gaze straight ahead through her windshield. “Nowhere special, just driving.”
She knew he’d frown at that.
She wasn’t someone who just drove around for no reason.
“Well, would you mind dropping me at the house?”
She turned back. “No, I thought I’d just drive off and leave you here.” Her lips twitched in a teasing grin. “To see how long before you bake in the sun.”
Cole tapped her nose with his long finger before he walked around and climbed in the passenger side.
Sara shifted the gear stick and the two continued down the road. Cole half turned. She felt him staring, but why?
He slid his arm along the back of the seat. “Gonna be a hot one.”
“Yep.”
The road grew rougher as they turned off the main pavement and down towards the Pritchard ranch. She jerked the wheel to avoid some ruts left by the last storm.
“Guess I’ll be looking at a new truck this weekend.”
Sara turned and glanced at him. “Yeah? What kind?”
“I like the look of Buck’s. That’s a nice truck and he’s been pretty happy with it. Do you like it?”
She shrugged, uncomfortable to even talk about him in this simple way. “It’s okay. We took it to Houston with us. Rode good, lots of room.”
“Speaking of getting new trucks...”
She heard him shift and figured the springs were probably poking up through the seat again. “Don’t even say it, my truck is fine—and mine’s not the one sitting at the side of the road right now.”
Cole laughed. “Unlike you, though. I know when it’s time to stop piecing it back together, break down and buy a new one.”
Sara jammed the gears and turned her truck through the gate that lead to Cole’s property. Cole’s grandfather had bought the property and, of course, left it to Cole’s father. Doc, however, had no interest in ranching and had never done much more than maintain it and keep a few head of cattle and horses. When Cole became an adult, he’d built the herd up and added several horses that he trained. It was also home to a menagerie of stray animals, everything from the usual abandoned kittens to an armadillo Cole had found hurt and Doc had nursed back to health.
